By Leigh Root

The Merryall Center, a quaint gallery off of Route 202 in New Milford, has housed many artists from various backgrounds and specialties. It opened on June 7, 1952, started by 80 families with the intention of being an “educational social community center.” As of May 21, 2022, the current exhibition is of painter Lorraine Ryan’s work.

Lorraine Ryan was born and raised in Long Island, specifically in Edgewater Camp. When asked about how she got started within the art industry, she simply said that she has been lucky to know her whole life that art is what she wants to do, and excels in; Lorraine began painting and drawing at age three, and she essentially never stopped. She attended the Parsons School of Design and was an honors graduate, and studied at the Art Students League of New York, where she met her husband, Martin Ryan. 

The Ryan’s began a business together designing decorative home products as Lorraine continued her painting journey. In the last 20 years, though, Lorraine has switched her vision from large, scenic florals and still lifes to farms and barns. The reasoning for the change, she states, is “because I think there’s so much history,” as Lorraine attempts to dedicate her 20 paintings of historical barns in Litchfield County to those that keep their community running from the fields.